The pandemic has killed at least 2.66 million people worldwide since the start of the pandemic, according to a report established by Agence France-Presse (AFP) from official sources, Tuesday March 16. The figures, which are based on daily reports from health authorities without including reassessments based on statistical bases, are grossly understated.
With more than 535,000 deaths, the United States is the most affected country on the planet, followed by Brazil which has 282,127 deaths, and which recorded an unprecedented number of deaths on Tuesday.
In Brazil, the new Minister of Health calls for “the unity of the nation”
The virus still appears to be out of control in Brazil. The country recorded, Tuesday, 2,841 deaths from Covid-19 in twenty-four hours, while the previous peak dated back to March 10, with 2,286 deaths, according to figures from the Ministry of Health.
These figures confirm an accelerated rise in deaths since early February in this country of 212 million inhabitants, with 1,965 deaths on average over the past seven days. At the start of the year, the seven-day average was 703 dead.
The ministry also announced nearly 84,000 new daily infections, the second highest figure since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country in February 2020, for a total of 11,603,535 reported cases.
Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, whose handling of the pandemic is disapproved of by 61% of Brazilians, changed health minister for the third time on Monday since the start of the pandemic, and acknowledged the importance of the vaccination which he had until then decried.
The new health strongman Marcelo Queiroga, a cardiologist recognized by his peers, called on Tuesday in front of the press to “The unity of the nation” to fight the pandemic. Vaccines must be “Are applied to Brazilians effectively, so that we can contain the virus and put an end to this pandemic”, said Mr. Queiroga.
The new minister, who has yet to be officially invested, asked the population to use masks and hydroalcoholic gel to avoid contagion. However, he did not mention containment measures, strongly criticized by Jair Bolsonaro.
Vaccination in Brazil began in mid-January, with the AstraZeneca and CoronaVac vaccines, from Chinese laboratory Sinovac, and continues at a slow pace due to lack of doses. More than 10 million Brazilians have received a first dose and 3.6 million two doses.
Trump encourages his supporters to get vaccinated
Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to be vaccinated against Covid-19 on Tuesday, despite the strong reluctance of some of them. The former US president was speaking on Fox News:
“I recommend it, and I recommend it to those who don’t want it, and many of those voted for me. “
“It’s an excellent vaccine, it’s a vaccine that is safe and that works”, he insisted.
On Monday, Jen Psaki, spokesperson for the White House, had joked about the lack of involvement of the former Republican president in the mobilization in favor of vaccination. “All the other living ex-presidents (…) got involved in awareness campaigns, they did not need a formal invitation”, she had launched.
Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama: four former American presidents have indeed mobilized in recent weeks to promote a message in favor of vaccination, while Donald Trump has stayed away from this initiative
Donald and Melania Trump got vaccinated in January, a few weeks before they left the White House. But the information was not revealed by their relatives until several weeks later.
Our selection of articles on Covid-19
